Father’s Day, Sunday June 16, 2024

I was rolling downhill out of Park Slope towards the Brooklyn Bridge at 6:45 am. I pushed over the bridge. One of the few hills on this route.

1913 Woolworth Building, the Cathedral to Commerce

I looped under the bridge heading north and ran into my first construction zone.

I worked my way around construction sites, trying to ride riverside as much as possible. There were plenty of people walking around early Sunday morning.

One South First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I pedaled for about a mile up 1st Avenue past the United Nations.

Continuing the hopscotch with riverside riding, at 125th street I went west and then north. At 135th street riding a narrow walkway choked with garbage I passed a couple smoking crack. That riverside path only went for a few blocks.

In upper Harlem I rode the streets to the Harlem River Drive Greenway towards northern Manhattan.

The Greenway gave way to Washington Heights where I rode under the el passing entrepreneurs washing cars.

I cut west towards Inwood Hill Park.

Inwood Hill Park is a real gem, it does not feel like Manhattan. I huffed up a path through a forest with glimpses of the Hudson and eventually rolled onto a southbound bicycle path alongside the Hudson, I missed the turn at Dyckman Street and added a few more miles alongside the Hudson River stopping to check out the sailboats on the mooring balls of the Dyckman Marina.

A sailboat and the New Jersey Palisades rising up from the Hudson

The path at Dyckman Street leads to part of the Empire State Trail which uses various trails to traverse the state. This section runs alongside the Henry Hudson Parkway with the Hudson River below. The trail eventually drops down to the river under the George Washington Bridge.

The Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge

I began seeing a lot more lycra clad bicyclists.

The various sections of the West Side Greenway are in better shape than the East Side, forming a continuous path all the way to Battery Park. As the morning grew later it was also busier with families, bicyclists and runners. At 10:30 my first e-bike delivery guy passed me. I rode south passing various landmarks with the Hudson and Jersey in view to my right.

Eventually I made my way to Battery Park which had a construction fence around it. I worked my way past the Staten Island and Governors Island Ferry Terminals and back to the Brooklyn Bridge and home.

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